Abstract

James's fiction, especially in the Middle Phase, centres
on the figure of the artist and is characterized by, the two
interrelated aspects which previous criticism has largely
overlooked: the Bakhtinian 'polyphonic' -creation of
'author-thinkers'; and the conflict between ephebes and
precursors, for which Harold-Bloom's concept of 'the-anxiety of
influence' is the most illuminating model. Polyphony is the
narrative mode, and influence is the intra-artistic, theme.
These, as the Introduction to the thesis makes clear, are
rehearsed in James's inaugural novel, Roderick Hudson. Rowland
Mallet is an author-thinker, and his failure is caused by
authorial limitations. His monologism -is impaired by his
mistaking empathy for the authorial sympathy. Likewise,
Hudson's failure does not arise from a mercurial temperament,
but from a polyphonic shortcoming: not possessing the power of
fiction to contain the fiction of power in, his mentor. And the
relationships among the three artists - Gloriani, Hudson and
Singleton - perfectly exemplify the Bloomian-theme. It is these
two concepts, polyphony and influence, which are the major
preoccupation in the Middle Phase; as, the works chosen
demonstrate. These are a novella, a novel, and a number of
short stories all of which have been unjustifiably neglected.
Chapter One, on The Aspern Papers, argues that Tina Bordereau,
far from being, the artless victim seen by many critics,
actually challenges and defeats the narrator by the very form
of her narrative. Her 'realist' discourse undermines his
language of 'romance', and shows up its internal unstability.
Chapter Two is an extensive study of the critical reception of
The Tragic Muse. The most common areas of critical attention
have been its contemporary topicality, its relation to previous
novels on similar themes, and the possible genealogy of Gabriel
Nash. Those have all missed the core of the work. - Chapter Three
demonstrates how polyphony and the anxiety of influence make
the novel what it really is. Influence arises from the
juxtaposition of, and the wrestling between, artistic ephebes
and their precursors (Nick and Nash,, Miriam and Madame Carre).
The dialogic quality defined by Bakhtin is crucial to the
proper, and even-handed, characterization of all, the conflicts
in the novel. And since most of James's tales in the eighties
and nineties -are about 'masters - and acolytes, the anxiety of
influence remains central. Chapter Four is a study of 'The
Author of Beltraffiol' and 'The Lesson of the Master'. Again the
characters' manipulations are a crucial focus in a way that
G6rard Genette's terminology helps to illuminate. The fact that
the ephebe is the author-thinker emphasizes the inextricability
of the Bakhtinian and the Bloomian in James. Just as
polyphony offers a different focus for explicating the poetics
of James's fiction; so the ephebal conflict provides the basis
for a fresh perception of James's own artistic struggle.